Page:Margaret of Angoulême, Queen of Navarre (Robinson 1886).djvu/70

Rh increased the fervour of the Reformers; and from their exile they influenced the current of thought in France. The misery of earth helped to quicken the impulse towards Heaven.

"The further they take you from us," writes Margaret to her brother in May, on the eve of his journey to Spain, "the more increases in me the firm hope that I have of your deliverance and speedy return. For at the time when human wisdom fails and is troubled, then the master-work of our Lord is wrought; for it is He who alone will have the glory and the honour."

So, in these early days of the captivity, France awaited a miracle in favour of her King. His captivity had revived all the enthusiastic devotion of his people. Amadis for chivalry, Absalom for beauty, Ogier for courage, so the popular ballads of the moment portray him. The fight he made on foot alone against his captors of Pavia inspired a host of songs:—

Through the whole civilised world, his captivity shed a brighter lustre on the chivalry of Francis. England classed him with Richard, her troubadour par excellence; France with Charlemagne and with John the Good, her paragons of honour; and Soliman himself, writing to the King in prison, reminds him that Bajazet, the hero of Turkey, suffered a like misfortune. But it was above all in Spain, in the land of his captivity, that the cult of Francis reached its most fantastic